The Innocent Man
by a62belle
Summary: After a mishap in the field, Skye finds herself another reason to look for her father, a mysterious, GH325-like serum her father is hiding to save her beloved AC, but the price of him finding out about the drug might just be too high for the entire of the team. Skoulson.
1. Chapter 1

No, no, no.

It isn't suppose to play out this way.

Ward falls, yes he does, but this blond girl manages to drag him away. I hit him at the knee at least.

At least I hurt that bastard. He'll pay for what he did to me, to AC, to the team. I'm relishing the moment of hurting him when I remember why I shot at him, five times. He had AC in a chokehold.

AC's shirt is not supposed to be red. I quickly run over, seeing the blood seep through his shirt, jacket, tie, dribbling out of his mouth

"Oh my god," I say, not quite sure of what to do. It wasn't supposed to be like that. You were suppose to kill Ward, save AC, live happily ever after, knowing that even though the man you love will never return your feelings for him, you at least saved his life.

You weren't suppose to miss one shot and end up shooting AC in the stomach while completely missing Ward's vulnerable points.

"Skye," he whispers, in a different context, at a different time, I would love the way my name falls on his lips.

"Oh my god AC, where's Simmons? Oh my god, what do I do-" I freak out, but I crouch lower unconsciously and he moves ever so slightly up to kiss my lips.

"Skye," he groans, the gunpowder must hurt like nothing, "I love you, I just wanted to let you know that in case I don't," he gasps for air, "in case I don't make it."

"No, AC, you'll be fine, just hang on, okay?" I reply, the words he just uttered not registering in my brain yet. His hand once warm in mine grow limp, as he falls onto my lap. I weep the silent tears, finally able to understand what he just said.

He loves me, I think, all this while and he loves me. How stupid of me not to tell him I love him as well, now, I might never get the chance.

"Simmons!" I shout, louder than I've ever shouted in my life. It was supposed to be a simple mission, find out about this mysterious blond girl Ward spends so much time with and find a way to exploit her. I was the one sent in. It was not meant to be a total crossfire from the minute I entered, a battle that might just prove fatal.

Two minutes later, Simmons arrives.

Three minutes later, May is preparing the bus.

Six minutes later, we're all on the bus.

Seven minutes later, Simmons is working on AC at the lab.

An hour later, we are at the nearest secured S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility. Good thing AC had the sense to secure the medical facilities in positions close to Hydra hot-spots, yet far enough to not be vulnerable to attack.

There's no magical medical decompression chamber. There's no GH325 to save AC. There're no strong, definitely trustworthy connections to rely on. There's no fiercely dedicated Level 8 S.H.I.E.L.D. future-director agent with blue eyes, a cool demure, a whole lot of experience, a get-it-done-no-matter-what-it-takes attitude to the victim's revival and the magical ability to make his team comply in charge of this operation.

What there is is a simple hospital bed stained red, common-place drugs that have never brought anybody back from the dead, Hydra everywhere with S.H.I.E.L.D. scattered across the globe, a Deputy Director who was Level 1 just two weeks before ( I was promoted to Level 9 by Fury's suggestion after AC suggested they make me Deputy Director), no coolness, almost no training other than that of a Nazi, and sure, will do anything to save AC, but mostly out of love and guilt, and looked to as the team as a sister, not a boss. And, oh yeah, wasn't she the one to land him in this position in the first place?

Compared to the scenario now, my own near-death experience seems like a trip to the emergency room after accidentally swallowing a small fish bone.

"Don't blame yourself," May says behind me, when we're at the waiting room.

"Excuse me! I was the one who shot AC, so tell me how this isn't my fault!" I reply, extremely agitated.

"You didn't mean it," Simmons cuts in.

"Oh yeah, I was also the Agent-in-charge of this entire op! If I'm totally innocent, we wouldn't be here, waiting at one of the few secure S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facilities wondering if our boss lives or dies!"I shout at her.

The nurse comes in, and I know exactly what AC felt when he received the news that I was on life support. At least he had knowledge that there were drugs out there t save me. There happens to be a fallen mountain on them now.

I walk away from the room because it hurts too much, move towards the room that holds AC.

He's deathly pale, his shirt is cut and there's a bullet wound in the middle of his stomach. I'm not prepared for the sight.

Just two hours ago, he was my strong protector, the resourceful, clear-minded, quick-thinking, efficient man that I had come to love, the (ever-so-slightly) flirtatious companion I enjoyed my company with. Now, he's (literally) half a ghost, a machine doing the things he, himself is suppose to do, so weak, so defenceless, so vulnerable, so broken. I break down, crying for him, for the guilt, for a love that will be lost just after the realisation that it is, in fact, two-way, for the fact that this is the end of the road-there will be no GH325, no T.A.H.I.T.I. to save AC. I will quit S.H.I.E.L.D., make May the director or something, and stop the hunt for my parents. Pretend that it never happened, that there was never any hope of actually finding a family.

It'll be easier that way. I'll leave after the funeral. The team will forget me, and I'll disappear again, maybe choose a new name for myself. Skye is now a name that holds too much pain for it to me my permanent one.

Just then, I see May standing next to me, towering over me.

"If you're going to say it's not my fault one more time-" I threaten, getting up to my feet as quickly as possible. It's easy to hide sadness as anger.

"No," she fishes in one of her zipped-up pockets, "Coulson told me that, if anything were to happen to him , he would like you to have this thumb-drive."

I took it from May all to hungrily.

When the medical personnel come, I ask to go back to the bus and plug it into my laptop.

It's title reads: Classified: Level 8 and above. Inhumans Development Section. Report 0-7-4

I read with a sense of horror.

Jiye Richardson, an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8 Science-Division agent went off the radar exactly 27 years ago. He was in charge of a special department of the organisation, dedicated to exploring the threats/benefits of the Inhumans to S.H.I.E.L.D., made in charge of a section so secret, only Level 8s and above knew about it, despite only recently making Level 8 due to a 'surprisingly good instinct and judgement on details relating to that of the Inhumans". He believed his parents abandoned him at age 12 (when they were really exposed to the Terrigen Mist, making it impossible for them to return) and lived with his aunt and uncle, which, altogether, was a happy experience. Unknown to him, he was a full-blooded Inhuman, and married a normal human being, a Level 6 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in 1984, Lisbeth Low Li Lian, against S.H.I.E.L.D.'s anti-fraternisation rules. It is known that he was exposed to the Terrigen Mist somewhere between '87 and '91. He divorced Lisbeth in 1989, when she was pregnant with a child,a daughter. It is known he married again, likely an Inhuman, in 1990 and launched a series of attacks with his wife on a village in the Hunan Province, China, where Lisbeth had seeked refuge with her mother, his motives are unclear.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept the secret under wraps, naming one of two survivors of the incident, a baby they knew to be Jiye's child, an 0-8-4 to cover up three embarrassing details-1) That the Inhumans section actually existed despite claiming leaks about it as false rumours 2) The fact that the head of their Inhuman's section for a long time was, in fact, an Inhuman himself, and 3) the fact that, before being exposed to the mist, Jiye had been a leading scientist that created a drug more effective than GH325 and he had stolen it, kept it for himself.

They shattered my whole world, made me search for answers for so long, kept the fact that my mother is alive. I'm angry at S.H.I.E.L.D., at Coulson for hiding such a monumental thing from me.

But, then, I realise. We have another version of GH325! I log onto my computer, searching for whatever information could be found of "inhumans", "jiye richardson" and "location", before launching another search for "S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Lisbeth Low Li Lian" and "history", both searches are long shots, but they're the best I have.

I put in an order for Coulson to be put in a medical pod in the plane.

In half an hour, we're in the air, with, the medical personnel and Simmons say, 36 hours to accomplish what I haven't done in 24 years, find my father.

I move next to him in the medical pod. When I'm sure the coast is clear, I kiss him on the lips.

"I love you AC, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you out of this plane alive."

Sunsets are beautiful, I think, watching out of the window, but today, it's just a mark the man next to me is a few minutes closer to a place from which I can never bring him back.


	2. Chapter 2

It's cold in my bunk. Simmons made me come up here, insisting I was spending to much time with AC to be psychologically beneficial. I let her push me around, even though I'm the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I'm technically her superior officer. Someone needs to know what to do around here, and, unlike AC, I'm not the one with the answers.

I stare at my hand. In it's heart, there's a small black-sized chip. An electronic camcorder to surreptitiously film anything we need at a touch of a button, full HD and with up to 6 hours of memory, it is a true beauty.

He recorded something for me, I think, how nice. Then I remember that he, as director, was supposed to be the one to get access to this video. He never meant to leave a message for me.

I sigh, quietly. It was supposed to be a simply mission, I sneak in, fire a tracking round at the blond girl, escape with a VERY comprehensive extraction plan by May. No one was supposed to get hurt.

I remember how I was chosen for the mission.

After Ward, ugh, it was decided we needed a new sniper. May couldn't, she was needed as a hand-to-hand combat person. AC couldn't, May insisted that he took a few months' break after finding out about Ward and GH325-version Garrett, anyway, he wasn't good with the rifle. Fitzsimmons couldn't, they were needed to be the science people examining the scene. That left me and Triplett. We tried Triplett at first, but when he went undercover with May once, it was obvious he was needed as May's cover. He knew every move, every shot before she acted and/or fired it, offering just the right amount of cover to be invulnerable, yet with enough space to work.

"Well, I always had to cover for Garrett,' Triplett shrugged, which landed him a punch in the face with two black eyes and a broken nose.

"Note to self," I half-said, half-thought, "Never, ever, ever compare May with Garrett."

"Ay to that," Triplett had replied as his nose was set.

So I was the only one left, I learnt to shoot, I learnt to fight, I learnt how to do complex undercover stuff, I learnt how to be a sniper.

"As good as Ward," AC had said, which also landed a punch in the face with similar results.

"Okay," he raised his hands in surrender when his nose was set, "Never, ever, ever compare you, or anyone else to Hydra operatives."

I agreed promptly, but, I had to say, it was a pretty good compliment, considering how long he lied to us.

But, apparently, AC was wrong, Ward wouldn't have missed those shots and land his superior on Life Support.

Fitzsimmons designed an ultra-rifle for me. It had a hidden radio to dial for help as well as a voice recorder. The safety catch opened with a swipe of the gun's smooth handle, but with fingerprint technology so psesit wouldn't open unless I was the one swiping it, as with the trigger, fingerprint technolog-ied so only I could pull the trigger in the case of the gun falling into wrong hands, which, I had to say, was pretty cool. Not that is ended up helping.

When I went into the compound, Ward was already waiting for me. Without the team, I would have been outnumbered 10 to 1. I instinctively radioed for a 'full roster', which meant I needed everybody available. It was, unfortunately, also the only roster that included AC, since he being the director meant we tried as hard as possible to keep him safe. The roster was compiled based on rank, with the highest ranking agents going first. In order (including me), it was May, Triplett, Me, Fitz, Simmons and AC. We weren't ranked according to security clearance, like the old S.H.I.E.L.D., but by how much we could contribute to the mission, or rather, how much May wanted us in the field; she was in charge of the roster.

The full roster came in, charged on, Fitzsimmons helped release biological weapons, May and Triplett attacked the Hydra operatives. AC...well, he, was taken on by Ward, he fought well, Ward went unconscious quite a few times, but in reality, he didn't have much of a chance, Ward was a trained Hydra operative (Level 9 Hydra, I heard), always allied with the element of surprise on his side.

He had AC in a choke hold after half an hour. I hadn't dared to pull the trigger before, but I knew I had no longer any choice. I'll never dare to pull the trigger again.

I press play on the screen, mentally preparing myself for the waterfall that I know will follow upon watching the video..

"Ward," the breathing is ragged, AC.

"Hmmm," Ward smirks, "How's you star shooter?"

"Not...shooting," AC gasps in the grasp of Ward.

"Too slow, old man, for me. I tried to warn you to stay away from her, didn't I? But you just wouldn't listen, would you? What, you think she loves you?"

"I...love...her. And... you- you know it."

"Yes, but she could never love you, and you know it. You're too old, too feeble, too zombie-ish. You're apparently not worth her bullets in her eyes, because we all know she can shoot marvellously well. I trained her you know," Ward smiles proudly, tightening his grasp, "I love her, I told you to stay away from her, I could have shot you at anytime, but I prefer to see the life drain out of your eyes, for disobeying a direct order from a Hydra operative, who works for an organisation much more real than your own."

"I would die for S.H.I.E.L.D. and you have seen it, with your own eyes."

"You would also die for the girl, but apparently, even your life is not worth my death in her pretty brown eyes."

Oh, I hope AC knew Ward was just playing him to get what he then I shot from a hidden corner, the recorder records everything in detail.

Ward's quick reflexes as he dodges the bullets, one barely scraping his knee, the rest missing, except for one, a tracking round. He's laugh when he sees a bullet has hit AC.

"Even the bullets seem to know who's worth saving," He sneers as he watches AC topple to the ground in a nerve-wrecking silence.

"Always wanted to see the light slowly draining out of your eyes, permanently this time," he laughs, before being pretend dragged by the blond girl.

"Sweetie," he whispers into the girl's ears, to smile.

"Of course, dear," she replies, smiling back, as they walk happily away. You almost wouldn't notice the dying man behind them, bleeding, whimpering in pain.

It took me so long to find him.

My search returns an address. 23rd Fairfield Street, a small street in Johnson Creek, California. That's where S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Lisbeth Low Li Lian lives, the ony other survivor of the destroying of the Hunan Village and my mother.

Dear mother, your only daughter is coming home soon, looking for her father, to save a man she hopes might be her husband., chew on that if you will.

I send the co-ordinates to May, before lying down on the bunk, hoping to get those images of AC's near-death out of my head once and or all.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to MusicLover3230 for her extremely encouraging review. Thanks!**

**Oh, I wish I could own anything in this story, but unfortunately, I don't**

I can't bear it, seeing AC in his state, breathing, not living, hearing but not listening, brain working but not thinking. I move off the Bus and take a rental car we booked ahead of time to search for my mother. I think about my introductions the whole way, I'm now officially the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. for as long as AC is out of field work, but it still is difficult to say that without getting choked up.

May and I approach the house, Triplett in the rental to be back-up. We decided that if things got dangerous I could at least rely on May to get us out of the house and back to the Bus.

I knock on the door, a middle-aged woman opens the door, she's fairly pretty, a black-haired woman with just a hint of silver in her shoulder-length slightly wavy hair, she has beautiful doe eyes shaped like almonds and an understanding face with great beauty. She's a good figure, almost like May, in fact.

"How can I help you?" she asks me, tinged with suspicion but with warmth, much more trusting than most out ex or current S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, exactly the kind of mother I would have liked.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Richardson, my name's Skye Richardson," I pause before stating my surname, it's still weird that I have one, " this is Agent Melinda May. I'm the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I would like to ask a few questions about your daughter and your husband, Jiye Richardson," I say, showing my badge.

"Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is Fury really that desperate? Aren't you a little young to be director? And shouldn't the director have Level 10 security clearance? No offence, I do believe you would not have been chosen if you weren't good enough, but it's not everyday someone gives you what should be a comprehensive introduction that just leads to more questions " she asks, suspiciously but warmly.

She must have been an excellent agent in her day, with a healthy amount of disbelief, yet, with enough compassion and kindness to be charismatic, I kind-of like her, if only because she's a little bit like a certain agent I just put on life support a few hours ago.

"May we come in? It's rather cold, but I'll answer all your questions when we get into the house," I say firmly.

She smiles, "First time a director asked to come in without threatening to shoot my head off," she says, jokingly.

We're led to a warm living room it by a fire with four large, comfortable chairs near the fire, facing each other with two on each side.

"Please take a seat," she says graciously, sitting down. "Would you like anything to drink?"

Both May and I refuse, taking seats next to each other, opposite her, "I'm afraid we don't quite have time," I say.

She nods.

"What do you know of Agent Phillip Coulson?" I ask.

"We ran some ops together back in the 80s, very good partner. He was assigned to me as my SO, after my husband, Jiye, 's attacks and I re-joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as Christina Ang Jia Li, a supposedly gifted agent who skipped Operations Academy. Died a couple years ago at the hand of Loki. Was revived through Project T.A.H.I.T.I., I know because I was one of his subordinates in the testing period of the operation, jumped ship when he did. Why?"

"I said I was the Director, that's not particularly true. You see, I'm only the temporary one, Fury made AC, sorry, that's my nickname for Coulson, " I say, seeing her puzzled look, "he was shot in action a few hours before, an accident, and he's now on Life Support. I need help from your husband, the GH-325-like serum he has."

"How would you know about this?"

"AC was helping me trace my origins, as it turns out, I'm the 0-8-4 that survived."

"You mean, you're my daughter?" She asks, "All this while, searching from the gem S.H.I.E.L.D. was forced to hide from me, she's been under the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D.? And is now it's director?"

"Yes, mom, I'm home," I say, crying slightly, emotionally as the older woman does the same.

"Sorry to break a kodak moment," May says, viciously, "but we need to move, we can't stay, Coulson only has a few hours."

"You say you need to find Jiye, my husband, or rather, ex-husband," Mrs. Richardson says, thoughtfully.

"Yes"

"In which case, we have a problem, because Jiye is dead."

* * *

Simmons's POV

"Oh my god, FItz! Get down here!" I scream from the med-pod, Fitz immediately runs down the stairs.

"What's the matter Jemma?" he shouts back.

"Coulson's spiking, we're losing him, get me the syringe!" I shout, as Fitz hastily does whatever I tell him to do.

He eases down, but I'm terrified.

"That was the worse attack yet, what if they don't find Skye's parents in time?" I ask, beyond-the-brink scared.

"They'll find them, alright, don't worry," Fitz replies, attempting to soothe me.

"It's just, we lose Coulson, we lose Skye. She loves him, he loves her, it's pretty obvious. S.H.I.E.L.D. will lose both it's leaders, we can't afford that."

Fitz nods in slow agreement, as I move around, pacing, a rare act for me to commit. Suddenly, a man appears in front of us.

"Who-who on earth are you?" I ask, scared out of my wits.

"That can wait. This the man who's stolen the girl you call Skye's heart?" He asks, gesturing at FItz. He's very tall, tanned, daunting, worse than May, which is definitely saying something.

"No, it's that man," I say, still scared as I point to Coulson, lifeless on the bed.

"Him! My daughter betray Miles Lydon, the man I decided would be appropriate for her and thus match-made them, for an old, slow, half-dead anyway man like him! Who's the doctor?" He asks.

"Me-me" I stutter.

With a swoop, he knocks Fitz out and wraps his arms around me, letting the darkness swallow with me as I travel with him through the realms.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I just suddenly realised, I've never had a disclaimer! If only I could own it! I only own Lisbeth Low Li Lian and Jiye Richardson. Sigh, Sigh**

**Sorry for taking so long to do this update. This is dedicated to Musiclover3230 and DD-BB-19 for their lovely reviews :) Love ya guys!**

**A/N 2: Yes, I confess to stealing the cargo ramp scene idea from Skye Coulson's The Wrong Side of Heaven, which, by the way, is a beautifully well-written story that you should check out if you don't mind Coulson torture and M rating stories.**

"Skye, we have a problem!" FItz shouts urgently into my ear piece.

"I think I have a bigger problem," I shout back, aggravated.

"Uhm," Fitz argues, "I'm fairly sure you want to hear mine first. Jemma's been taken!" he exclaims before I have the chance to argue back.

"What! Damn it! Who, do you know?" I shout, not caring about the look I get from my mother.

"Sending you the security camera footage right know," he replies and I whip out my phone. He sends it encrypted, so only a Level 8 or above Agent in S.H.I.E.L.D., which is basically only me, AC, Hill (she is still allowed a security clearance despite having already officially left S.H.I.E.L.D.), May (she was promoted to Level 8 upon the revelation of Hydra), Fury and now, apparently, my mom, can access it.

The footage show a man suddenly appearing behind Fitz, shouting at them a bit about how I was supposed to pick Miles Lydon as my husband, and disappearing with Jemma after Fitz was knocked out.

"But, that can't be," My mother says, mouth agape.

" With all due respect, Mother, with your experience in S.H.I.E.L.D., surely you should know about the powers of some Gifteds and Asgardians," I explain, "Fitz, check our index to see if anyone has that kind of power."

"Oh, they'll be no need for that. I know him," My mother says.

"Who is he, I say, cutting her to the chase.

"My long dead ex-husband, Jiye Richardson," she says with a tone of finality.

I guess I_ really_ shouldn't have taken a shot at Ward.

* * *

"May, how soon can you get us up in the air?" I ask quickly when we reach the cargo ramp of the Bus, my mother is tagging along, we decided that it might be a good idea, since she's basically the only one who could recognise Jiye.

"Soon," May says, darting to the cockpit while I move on to question Fitz.

"Who's that?" he asks quicker than I can shoot my first question. Some day, I think, I will finally be able to get used to the fact that the new Fitz can talk much faster than me.

"Mrs. Richardson, though she's technically Miss Low," I reply, preparing to ask my question.

"And who's that?" Fitz asks.

"My mother, Fitz, we've identified the mysterious man that kidnapped Jemma," I say, before he can ask another of his ridiculous questions.

"Your mother! Seriously? But I'm more interested in the bastard that kidnapped Jemma," Fitz says, obviously angry at the mention of Jemma's kidnapper.

"Uhm, Fitz," my mother says with an ironic smile as she moves a small box of personal items to hold her for the next 24 hours or so, "that would be my ex-husband, Jiye Richardson, and Skye's father."

Fitz's mouth opens wide in his horror, "Open mouth, insert foot," he says, embarrassed at cursing his boss's father, "But I thought he was just an inhuman, I wasn't under the impression he could fly, or apparate."

"He can, because he's not really an inhuman. He's Asgardian," my mother ejects, before moving through the lab doors.

"Preparing for take-off, lock it or lose it," May warns as we scuttle up the staircase and buckle up on the couch.

"Wait, mom, what did you say about Jiye being an Asgardian?" I ask, immediately upon seeing her.

"The S.H.I.E.L.D. file was wrong, Jiye was a half-blooded inhuman, half-blooded Asgardian. I'm a half blooded human and elf," Lisbeth says calmly, as she moves to read the safety pamphlet, "My father, a pure-blood human, a commander in the army, Commander Woodrow Low Zhi Feng fell in love with an elf, Aidenshlayer Joverdottir who was travelling to Midgard to do some research. They married after only knowing each other for half a year and after I was born, my mother was called back to her realm, leaving my father to take care of the two-month old me all by himself. I would not have known my mother if not for him telling me," My mother says bitterly.

I remember my watching Ward's conversation with Commander Hill (I had hacked into it), I remember the words he said, which would had been so wonderful if only they had been true.

"It means we're the line between the world and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe."

But now, there is no S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect, there's only a rag-tag team standing on the tombstone of an organisation they were once proud to call their own, now unable to acknowledge their membership due to the fear of being prosecuted as terrorists. There's no more S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect a young woman in her early twenties from the knowledge that she is only a quarter-blood human, or that her maternal grandmother was an irresponsible, detestable elf, or that her very own father just kidnapped her best friend, and in so is basically murdering the man she loves. Detestable family I have, my maternal Grandfather and my mother seem to be the only decent ones left.

Fitz interrupts the unpleasant moment, "I'm getting huge electric readings not 10 kilometres from here!" he shouts, "Nothing as bad as this has come ever since the Chitauri virus!"

This is bad. The last time that happened, three people died and one person almost died in the sea. I would rather not have anything happening like that again, especially with AC in the medical pod, on life support.

"Fitz, prepare AC to be moved quickly, how long do you think you could sustain his life without Jemma's help?" I ask desperately, also keying in commands to May to land as quickly as possible.

"Four hours at most, anybody else have basic first aid training?"

"I do," both Triplett and my mother say at once.

"Okay, make that seven or eight, but not nearly as much time as Jemma would be able to sustain him," he says, running down to the pod, gesturing for my mother and Triplett to help him.

May does a careful landing, making this the shortest plane trip, totally to about ten minutes, S.H.I.E.L.D. 616 has ever flown. May comes in to check on me.

Suddenly, I notice the cargo ramp opening on the desktop.

"Fitz, Triplett, May, Mom, who's opening the cargo ramp?" I ask urgently through my in-ear coms.

"No-one," Fitz retorts back. "We can't control the cargo ramp from the medical pod."

"Fitz, is AC ready, we need all personnel at the cargo ramp now!" I shout. AC would not lose his cool like this. Unfortunately, I'm not AC.

* * *

We all gather around the cargo ramp, a tall, dark man with a woman and a familiar-looking man appears just next to Lola, about to touch it's beautiful body.

"Don't touch Lola!" I shout instinctively, moving forward with my I.C.E.R.

"Why, you're so like your mother, Skye Jiyedottir," he says, smiling, "Lisbeth, long time no see. I missed you, you know."

My mother looks at him severely, "They told me you were dead, Jiye."

"Yet, here we are," he points out, "forgive me, I forgot to make introductions

He gestures to an impossibly beautiful woman standing next to him. May clenches her fist, she would like nothing more than to never see her again.

"This is my wife, Lorelei," he says, smiling even wider as she smirks at us, an icy coldness in her eyes.

Behind him stands a man I never wanted to see again.

"And this is the man I've picked for my beautiful daughter, Miles Lydon."

He smirks at me in a way similar to that of Lorelei.

"He also happens to be Lorelei's original son," My father continues, "Now, I think we have some things to talk about a certain bio-chemist of yours who is currently under my care."


	5. Chapter 5

Instinctively, I reach for my highly-lethal dirotoxin (a new anti-magic toxin Fitzsimmons had devised) gun and put my father at gun-point.

"I'm warning you, this is tested to be highly effective against anyone, including Asgardians. So give me one or two reasons not to blow your head off because you sure as hell haven't so far," I spit at the unorthodox family-of-criminals in front of me.

"Your bio-chemist, for one, would be a fairly good reason," he replies calmly, "not to mention the very weak heartbeat of a certain someone. No, my daughter, I'm the only way you could possibly save the man, so you will not shoot or hurt me, or any of my family."

"You're no father of mine!" I shout at him, not removing my gun.

Stupid move, I know. Agent Coulson, Coulson, A.C., Phil, Phillip, the survival of the body of this man grants full immunity to my father. I would move heaven and earth to get him back, no matter what the personal cost.

"Yet we do look strangely alike," my father replies, shrugging casually, "You can deny the truth, but it does not stop it from being a fact. Stand down, I'm not afraid of you taking my life. I would be more worried about the man currently fighting for his life."

"What the hell do you have against A.C.?" I ask, despite my father's words, I have no intention of putting down my gun.

"Nothing, nothing at all," he replies, calmly, smugly, almost as if he's asking a toddler whether she'd prefer a chocolate or strawberry ice cream.

"Really?" I snap sarcastically, my arms aching having held the gun upright for way longer than usual, but thoroughly unwilling to let it down, "Because that's not exactly the opinion one might gather, considering he's on life support and you are denying him the only thing that can save him, which you have on your hands."

He shrugs again, "What do you have against him?"

"What the hell made you think I've ANYTHING to do against him?"

"Nothing, other than the fact that you were the one that put him on life support in the first place."

"Son of a bitch," at this, Miles walks closer to me.

"Give in to temptation, Skye. You know I like a bad-girl but you're really taking things too far," he says, smirking.

"It's, it's not that, Miles. You know for a fact that I want nothing more than to be with you," I 'explain', putting down my gun for a while, organising a complicated plan, wondering if I could pull off such a complicated lie. Lying was never one of the main disciples in my training by May, "But we've got a somewhat complex problem," I say, quietening my voice in an intimate, confidential tone that I know my team can hear through but not an untrained like Miles, or my father. Lorelei is a different matter.

"What's the matter Skye?" he asks, dropping to a more authentic version of my tone.

"I'm sort of two-weeks pregnant. And it's his baby," I say, whispering.

He studies my face very closely. A few weeks of being a proper agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. has already schooled my features, so all I've to do is restrain my want to laugh.

"Him!" Miles shouts with a very agitated, furious tone to his voice, "Sick son of a bitch! I'll kill him!"

My father looks at him with a glare, visibly swallowing.

"Duly noted, Miles, son of Johnson," he replies, staring me down, "Lydon, perhaps you'd like to take a walk around this flying...boat?"

With that, he turns around and makes him walk up the steps, Miles glaring at me, before joining him. My team instantly starts following them, with an uncharacteristic disregard for consequences.

"Skye?" a voice I dread calls my name just as I motion to move up.

"Lorelei," I say with visible coldness.

"I know about your lie," she says in a strangely non-accusing tone.

I stare at her as she continues

"You need my help to coax the cure out of my husband."

" Why should I trust you?" I ask instinctively, knowing there can be no correct answer.

"Because I haven't sold you out?" Lorelei looks at me with a puzzled expression, "You midgardians are impossible to understand!"

I nod at her slightly, still wary. Trusting her is the same thing as trusting death, but at least one cannot doubt death.

"Also, Jiye, being the ridiculous romantic he is, trusted me with the vial that will save your man's life. It's not poison, I earn nothing by killing the Son of Coul. He's a resourceful, clever, kind man, an invaluable asset to Midgard, he, quite frankly, deserves the life he will get from the drug," Lorelei reasons, moving closer to me, pulling out a small vial from her back pocket..

For a strange reason, the conversation reminds me of the time when I was in A.C.'s office.

"Stop lying! You've been lying to me ever since you stepped on this plane. I'll give you one chance to come out with it or I'm done with you!" A.C. had said just after "The Miles Situation".

I had dished it out, expecting to get tossed off the plane.

Pity, I'd thought, I kinda like this plane. It is the closest thing to home I've ever had.

Scrap that, it is home. The only place I've ever felt at home, inclusive of Miles's apartment.

He'd said he wanted to help me.

That was when I realised. I loved him.

In fact, I found out that I found out that I loved him. When I purposely made myself known to S.H.I.E.L.D., I swore to leave Miles and everything else of my old life behind, give myself up to the justice system. Stop fighting it, then maybe the system might reward me with knowledge of my parents.

Then I met A.C. and I fell in love. I figured I'd never have a shot in hell with him after the events of the weird 0-8-4; he had had a woman like Camelia Reyes before. Granted, she turned out to be a manipulative bitch willing to murder her ex-lover and his entire team to crush the people of Peru who, for the first time in ages, decided to rise up and fight for justice, but still, she said much about his type.

Professional, sleek, matured, excellent at what she does, preferably with a more classic job like musician or field agent, less slightly-lost 0-8-4 with computer-hacking skills.

I move slowly towards Lorelei, taking the vial from her hands.

"Go, save him!" she says with urgency, as I run up the steps.

What am I doing? I think, as I move to the med-pod, preparing a syringe, the last time we did this was on me, and it was apparently some Alien Tissue which can drive me crazy, but it doesn't matter to me.

All the protocol crap doesn't matter to me, all that matters to me is Coulson.

I empty the vial into the syringe, taking in a deep breath as I push the syringe down into the input tube. Skye, you're a monster.

When Coulson found out, he did whatever he could to stop it. Me, I'm the one who's pushing the serum in.

There's still time to back out, but I don't.

May stands in the background as the drug enters Coulson's system.

"You sure about this?" She says, uncharacteristically concerned to the point of creepiness.

No, I think, but at the same time, yes. Because doing this is so much better than the alternative.

God, am I like Fury? The man who tortured Coulson for days just to bring him back from the dead?

"He's stabilizing," I observe, watching with relief as the not quite answering May's question, "but it's essential he can't know."

May nods, understanding. The very knowledge that the thing that saved him could (very possibly) be alien biology once more would definitely push him off the edge he barely escapes from falling off already.

"Your fat-" May begins.

"He's no father of mine," I reply, firmly, sounding every bit like the intimidative Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Hill was.

"Fine," May replies, moving closer, watching the unconscious man in front of me, not making eye-contact, "Jiye and Lorelei escaped, but we caught Miles."

I nod, "I'll let A.C. and Triplett do the honors." A.C. deserves this. Deserves to be the one offering justice to the one who withheld medical assistance to him when he had it in abundance.

"I'll brief the team on what'd happened. If A.C. ever asks, he just recovered from his injuries, that they weren't as serious as he thought they were," I say, gulping. It's T.A.H.I.T.I. all over again.

"Coulson's a trained S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent. He's not going to be so easy to cheat," May reasons, still watching him.

"Jemma has a suggestion drug that we'll drug him with when he wakes up. We'll then play an edited version of the day's happenings and let him sleep for another two hours or so. When he wakes up, he should remember the events we played as the real events and the real version as an exaggerated form of it in his dreams," I deadpan, hating myself. Hating lying to him. But if it's to keep him safe I don't care about the cost.

May calls the team for a briefing from her walkie-talkie in-ear device and I brace myself to walk up and face them. looking one last time at the man I love, wondering how much more pain I could cause by lying to him.

But right now, lying will delay the pain, and I'm willing to do anything to increase the time before I see the pained look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Did you manage to get her to insert the drug?" Jiye asks casually enough as he falls back on his seat..

"Of course. You know how charming I can be for the right cause," Lorelei says, in his arms on the love seat, "and she decided to do the lying thing all to herself."

"That's good," Jiye says, smiling slightly, "Miles knows what to do I suppose?" his smile widens at the nod from Lorelei, "Good. We need all the help we can get if we're to defeat the man who's stolen my girl's heart. She must get Miles, you know, or he'll hold us in his debt and take this all away from us. That baby stunt was really very stupid."

Lorelei nods in agreement, warming into the arms of the only man she knows who's ever been able to stand against her 'charm'.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I'd updated it at A03, but totally forgot to update it here. My apologies!**

**Skye's POV**

A.C. wakes up the second time two hours later, just as expected.

He's visibly shaken, sitting up slowly, weakly.

"Where am I?" is his first question.

"A medical pod, on the bus. You feeling okay?" I ask, holding my breath.

You don't mess with GH-325 or any of it's twins. Period.

"I'm fine. Lucky your bullets didn't hit any major organs," he says, not at all accusingly.

Makes it hurt even more.

"I'm sorry, A.C. I was just trying to get Ward. I wonder if you remember when you said you-you loved me?" I say, worried.

"Yeah, I thought I was about to die so I went with it. I didn't expect an awkward conversation when you say you don't reciprocate-" he babbles.

"Good thing you won't have one then," I say, relieved, "I-Love-You" I say firmly.

He gives me a look, one I can't quite pin-point.

But I like it.

Or I would like it if I wasn't hiding such a major secret from him.

"I-Love-You-Too," he says with equal firmness, smiling at me, brushing his lips against mine.

I love it, but it just increases my guilt.

"I've some bad news, though," I say, staring to the ground, giving a half truth.

He quirks his eyebrow in a what-could-you-possibly-throw-at-me-now way.

"May over-reacted and gave me the info on my parents. When we decided to track my mother down, the team thought it was a good idea to have her as a substitute for you, while you were still incapacitated," I start explaining.

"Okay, I don't quite see the problem here," A.C. says, looking at me.

"The problem is my dad decided to hunt me down, and he came with his wife, Lorelei and his wife's son, Mile Lydon, who's currently in our Cage once again," I continue explaining, not missing the wince, "Perhaps you'd like to interrogate him when he's well?"

He nods.

"Keep him in there as long as possible," he says.

You have no idea how much I want to do that.

**3rd Person POV**

It takes four days, but Coulson does, eventually, get ready for his interrogation of Miles Lydon.

"Hey Phil, haven't seen you since, forever," Lisbeth says, smiling at the sight of her old partner.

"Hey, Liz, nice to see you again," he says, as courteously as possible.

"Good luck breaking Miles. He's been under my radar for quite a while now, doesn't seem to be very co-operative," Lisbeth says, drinking some starbucks, carrying her shoulder bag, "Now you have him in. custody, I'll be leaving, I sent one of my subordinates to be my 'spy'"she jokes

He looks at her.

"Sure, I'll see you soon then," he replies as warmly as possible, watching his old colleague walk away.

He walks into the interrogation room with a stern look in his eye.

"Lydon,' he says.

"Congrats on you child," he quips.

"My what?" Coulson asks immediately, shell-shocked.

"She didn't dare to tell you?" Miles asks, mockingly, "How your forced series of one night stands with her made her pregnant? How a sheer want and desperation for me made her turn to you? How she decided to give you that Alien goo so you would forever be in her debt?"

"You're lying," he growls, losing it.

"Just look at the security footage, man."

Taking out his phone, Coulson accesses the security footage of the days before.

It isn't pretty.

He storms out the room, the whole team sucks their breath.

**Skye's POV**

I know I'm dead when he walks into the living room where the whole team is, blue eyes cold as ice.

"Mary-Sue Poots," he says darkly, he has never used my given name, "What the hell were you thinking giving me an alien drug?"

I stand up, "All due respect sir, I was just trying to save your li-"

"All due respect? All due respect? You crossed the line of all due respect when you gave me that fucking drug and LIED TO MY FACE ABOUT IT!" He shouts at me.

"Sir, you were on life support-" I try explaining, but he does something I'd never expect from him.

He raises his hand and slaps me, hard. I raise my hand reflectively, hurt.

"I don't want your crap! How could you do this to-" he shouts, as a bullet sounds rings and he falls to the ground, I dive down to catch him just in time.

"Just an ICER," May explains, as she walks towards me, "I would rather not deal with any critical injuries today."

I nod, just slightly.

"But how can we ever expect him to want to lead us again?" I ask, "I'm not sure I want to serve a S.H.I.E.L.D. without Coulson."

"Even after he slapped you?" Triplett asks, almost incredulously.

"Yes, because we did a terrible thing to him, and I'm fairly sure I do not want to be there when he wakes up," I snap, "Now, some help bringing him to a place to rest?"

The team moves in to help me immediately.

Suddenly, the wireless intercom A.C. wears on his belt buzzes to life.

"Director Coulson?" a female voice says, "I'm outside your plane."

**3rd Person POV**

Coulson wakes up to a familiar face.

"Hello, Phillip, long time no see," says the woman sitting next to him in an ironical tone.

He sits up, trying to move, only to realise he's wrists have been tied so the handles of the hospital bed.

"Cassandra," he says to the woman twelve years his junior, black hair tied up in a messy ponytail, blue eyes as piercing yet as warm as usual, her face the picture of innocence, sadly just a natural feature bearing no truth. Dressed in a simple red jumper and jeggings. She was a well known psychological agent in S.H.I.E.L.D., not as famous as her kick-ass older brother. Then again, she was one of the fastest S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to ever ascend the ranks. Level 6 in a matter of 6 years, inclusive of Academy time (she'd joined a private company at first). Before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall, she'd been well on her way to a Level 7 security clearance. Outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., she carries the enviable record of being the only one who can call the Agent/Director 'Phillip' and live to tell the tale without at least a broken nose.

"Now, Phillip, this girl, Deputy Director Skye, she calls herself, suddenly tells me that you actually died in your attack by Loki, and was brought back via a complicated, painful process, are now the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a widely-regarded-as-corrupt organisation, and told me nothing about it, " she says with sarcasm.

Indifference, acting, she'd scored tip marks in that, but computer sciences were by far her forte.

"Fury didn't tell you?" he asks, eyes opening wide at the realisation of the betrayal.

Of course, no-one knew Cassandra was his sister. She was, in full technicality, only a step-sister, the child of his mother's second husband, so she wasn't a Coulson, but, to the new Director, she was exactly like family. The only family he has left. S.H.I.E.L.D. became his only family when Cassandra, too, was torn away from him, not by death, but by no S.H.I.E.L.D. family rules, which made her work for a different organisation and slowly but surely split them apart, his death being the final knife. Hell, he hadn't known for months when S.H.I.E.L.D. finally accepted her.

"No, he did not. I thought you were dead Phillip," she says, "By the way do you know, your deputy director, we're old foes."

"Old foes?" he asks, the sedatives of the ICER still working on him such that he can't quite remember the betrayal yet.

"Yep, we had hacking wars every other day back in the day. But, in real life, she's a very nice woman," Cassandra says, grinning.

The after-effects of the drugs wear off, abruptly turning him to the absolute feeling of betrayal and hatred as he curls his hands towards the rope restraints.

"Untie me," he says calmly, or as calmly as possible.

But Cassandra knows her brother too well, and sees the primal hatred in his eyes.

"No can do, bro," she says, as casually as possible.

"Cassandra, I'm the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., untie me," he says, more forcefully now.

"No, bro. You've been stripped of your Director status for the time being, so I listen to DD Skye," she says, still playful.

"Untie me!" he growls.

"No, Phillip. Don't you dare ask me to untie you once again, or I swear to go I will call May, Triplett and Skye and see what they do with you," Cassandra threatens.

"Untie me!" he barks.

She switches on her intercom immediately, "DDS, AM, AT, C, PC, C1, I repeat, PC, C1."

As he watches the agents she'd threatened enter the room, he curses the new form of verbal shorthand under his breath.

**Skye's POV**

It hurts to see him like this, angry at the world, tugging against his restraints as we dash in, trying to find out how to appease him.

The hurt and pain his his eyes, the raw hatred that we'd do something like that to him, especially after establishing the fact that a demon was in charge of the project.

The agents in the room look towards me.

Yes, as the DD of S.H.I.E.L.D., it's my duty to find out what to do when the real Director goes berserk because his subordinates lied to his face. The same subordinates he'd established as incapable of lying to him, ever again.

"Untie him," I say as firmly as possible.

"Do what now?" Cassandra looks at me with a shock in her face.

"You heard the girl, untie me!" A.C. shouts as his step-sister, I prefer to avoid the sight of him.

Because it absolutely repulses me, what I did to him.

Cassandra moves swiftly, and A.C. stands up immediately.

"Leave for now, it's okay," I say.

The other agents look like I've gone out of my mind but obey the order.

I wonder if I really have gone out of my mind.

Coulson stares at me, his hands lounging for my throat but I move away quick enough to avoid them.

"So what, A.C.? We're in a room, I'm alone, no back-up. You going to kill me now? Kill a girl in cold-blood who isn't even a threat? Become the monster you're not? Because if I know you, A.C., and you're not a murderer. Manslaughterer, possible, cold-blooded murderer, not a chance. What happened to the A.C. who gives second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth chances? What happened to the 'cool' A.C? What I did was beyond forgiveness, but you're not going to kill me, A.C., you're not going to kill me," I say, as firmly as possible, looking straight into the wild eyes.

The wild eyes lose a little bit of their wildness, and gain a little bit of the depth and understanding I've learnt to love.

"Look, A.C., I'm not May, I'm not Hill, I'm not Fury. I won't give you a whole lot of crap about how it was for your own good, because it sure as hell wasn't. You deserved to know the truth, but we decided to hide it from you. Should have known that son-of-a-bitch would tell on us, now if you please, I'll tell you the full story," I say as calmly as possible.

His features relax slightly, but not to the point of normalcy.

I tell him the entire story. May telling me about my parents. Me tracking down my mother. My father tracking me down. My lie to get Miles off my back. The drug. The memory drug. All of it.

"Am I still Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., or are you calling the shots?" he asks coldly.

"You, of course," I say, swallowing saliva.

"Good, you're officially stripped of your Deputy Director Position. Cassandra's my Deputy," He says, walking out of the room swiftly.

It stings, but it's no more than I deserve.

"You can't go," May says, firmly as she watches me arrange my sweater.

"I have to, May. He doesn't trust me, doesn't want me here," I say, pulling on the sleeves to make them longer, "I get why you got up and walked away."

She winces at this.

"I learnt my lesson, didn't I? The more Coulson pushes away people, the more he needs them. The last time I checked, and mind you, I've checked a whole lot, he's not even talking to Cassandra," May says, grabbing on my hand.

"I'm meant to do other things, you know. Find my parents once more, give my father a piece of my mind. You guys already have Cassandra, she can more than fill in for me," I point out, shaking off May's hand and picking my shoulder bag up.

She sighs and gives the game up, walking out of the room.

I walk out of the airplane, sighing as I take my van which Coulson had been nice enough to retrieve for me two months ago.

I'm out the cargo ramp in a flash, I don't even think Coulson will notice when I'm gone.

I'm dead wrong.

I walk out the salon with shorter, more fashionable hair and new half-bangs.

I think they look good on me.

I contemplate my new life of 'freedom'. It isn't the same as before S.H.I.E.L.D., before I realised there was a super-big dysfunctional family watching my back for me.

I walk into my van, placing down a bag full of new clothes and other miscellaneous necessities.

"Nice haircut."

I jump in shock, nearly spilling the clothes out of the bag as I see a woman sitting on the seat in my van.

"Low shock threshold, huh? How'd you get past Operations 'cademy?" the woman says again.

"DD Coulson, in all due respect. I didn't. I hacked my way in," I say, calmly, or as much as possible, "Did May send you?"

She gives me a look.

"May? Why'd she send me? Phillip sent me. He misses you," she deadpans.

"Misses me? The last time I saw him, he stripped me of my Deputy Director position and basically made it seem like he never wanted to see me again," I say, looking at the older lady in the eye.

"Well, don't call me the DD. I'm technically not. He got a bit mad at me after I told him if you wanted to abandon the team, it was probably for the best you left. Said the only way to redeem myself was to track you down. Alas, I am here," she says, casually.

She's much freer,much more casual, much more approachable than the older Coulson, a bit more like me, really, but I can't find herself hitting off with the female Coulson immediately.

Cassandra's intercom suddenly bursts to life.

"AC, C, PC, CE, I repeat, PC, CE," says May's voice in the shorthand they'd developed.

"Not good, CE," Cassandra says, "How fast do you think you can get to this place?" she asks, pulling out her phone and showing me an address.

"Three hours, why?" I ask after frantically programming the address into my phone's GPS.

"Drive," she says simply.

"What the hell's happened? I need to know!" I shout at her, "I'm not driving until you tell me."

Cassandra accesses the file on her phone.

"Phillip tried to interrogate Miles again. Apparently , he took a negative reaction. They're bringing him to the closest secure hospital available. How long can you take to drive there."

"Against the law? 2," I say, "Buckle up."

I step on the accelerator, worried for my life.

Worried that the drug I fought so hard for to restore the life of someone I love might just be their downfall.

**A/N: This is an updated version of the chapter! I just realised I accidently wrote Simmons in when she's still a hostage of Skye's father. So sorry!**


End file.
